John Usher

About

John S. Usher, Ph.D., P.E. is the Acting Dean of the J.B. Speed School of Engineering as of May 2015. He also serves as the Associate Dean for Administration, Planning and Faculty Affairs at the J.B. Speed School of Engineering at the University of Louisville. From July 2005 through July 2012 he served as Professor and Chairman of the Department of Industrial Engineering. He received his B.S. and M.Eng. degrees in Industrial Engineering from the University of Louisville in 1980 and 1981 respectively. He received his Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering from North Carolina State University in 1987. While completing this degree he was employed by IBM in Research Triangle Park, NC for two years as a reliability engineer.

In the area of scholarly research, Dr. Usher has acted as PI or Co-PI on approximately $8 million worth of funded research for organizations such as such as the Office of Naval Research, Defense Logistics Agency, National Science Foundation, IBM, AT&T Bell Laboratories, and General Electric. He has authored over 40 papers in refereed journals, over 70 publications appearing as conference proceedings, book articles, and technical reports. He has successfully directed over 100 PhD, M.Eng, and MSIE theses and projects in a variety of industrial engineering related topics.

Teaching Interests

In the area of teaching, Dr. Usher has developed and taught numerous courses in both university and industrial settings. He currently teaches university courses in Quality Control, Reliability and Maintainability, Engineering Economics, Facilities Location and Layout, and Fundamentals of Industrial Engineering. He has provided consulting services to a variety of organizations such as IBM, Quaker Oats, KFC, American Air Filter, the Material Handling Institute, Brown & Williamson, and the U.S. Navy. In 2001, Dr. Usher was recognized by the University of Louisville for career teaching excellence andpresented with the Distinguished Teaching Professor Award.

Research Interests

In the area of scholarly research, Dr. Usher has acted as PI or Co-PI on approximately $8 million worth of funded research for organizations such as such as the Office of Naval Research, Defense Logistics Agency, National Science Foundation, IBM, AT&T Bell Laboratories, and General Electric. He has authored over 40 papers in refereed journals, over 70 publications appearing as conference proceedings, book articles, and technical reports. He has successfully directed over 100 PhD, M.Eng, and MSIE theses and projects in a variety of industrial engineering related topics.